This article also appears in the March-April issue of the Library of Congress Magazine. The Thomas Jefferson Building has awed visitors ever since it opened its doors in 1897. The grand building is more than a marvel of art and architecture, though; it’s also a monument to function and safety — fire safety in particular. …
Eileen J. Manchester, manager of the Library's Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative, tells us about her international background -- born in Germany, English is her second language and she also speaks French. She tutored at her local library while growing up in North Carolina, then interned at the Freedom School Partners literacy program and went to South Africa to study its education system. She continued her studies of early modern women writers at the University of Oxford and came to the Library as a junior fellow in the summer of 2018.
A major new Library exhibition, “The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution,” uses original documents such as letters, diaries, maps, newspapers and political cartoons to shed light on striking likenesses between men long supposed to be polar opposites -- George Washington and King George III. The two opposed one another during the Revolutionary War, but actually shared many personal and leadership traits. The exhibit, a joint project between the Library of Congress and the Royal Archives, runs at the Library through next March. It is also online via the Library's website and in a companion book.
